Codie Shuffield: Bare knuckle is made for Mississippi

Mississippi's own, Codie Shuffield, will cross bare knuckle boxing off of his bucket list when he meets Marvin Hunt at Bare Knuckle FC 11 at the Lafayette County Arena in Oxford on July 24.

The 31-year-old fighter with professional boxing and mixed martial arts experience under his belt, doesn't seem to be the slightest bit concerned of the new venture.

"My dad was a world champion kickboxer so from the time I was walking, I had gloves on," Shuffield said of his start in combat sports.

That early start led Shuffield to kickboxing competition and eventually winning world titles before making the leap to MMA, even competing for Bellator MMA before taking his last bout in 2015.

The Water Valley, Mississippi native states that he wishes bare knuckle boxing was around (legally) when he was getting started in combat sports competition.

"I think this is perfect for my game, all the ruleset in it. I'm looking at this fight more as a sprint," Shuffield said of the upcoming bout against Hunt. "Usually you try to feel someone out in MMA. I don't see that happening in this fight."

"I think bare knuckle is made for Mississippi," Shuffield said. "We're used to bare knuckle. Somebody's talking blah, blah, blah, man up. It ain't like I've never been in a bar fight. We're a hospitable state but we're ready at the drop of a hat."